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Cy Young winner Bob Welch dead at 57

Welch was the last major leaguer to win at least 25 games in a season.

Former major league pitcher Bob Welch passed away Tuesday at age 57 in California. Welch won the Cy Young in 1990. (The Associated Press)

By Antonio GonzalezThe Associated Press

Tues., June 10, 2014

OAKLAND, CALIF.—Bob Welch, the 1990 AL Cy Young Award winner of the Oakland Athletics and the last major leaguer to win at least 25 games in a season, has died.

He was 57.

He died Monday night in Seal Beach, Calif., of unknown causes, the team said Tuesday.

“He was a legendary pitcher who enjoyed many of his best seasons with the Oakland A’s,” Athletics president Michael Crowley said in a statement. “He will always be a significant part of our franchise’s history.”

Welch was a prominent member of the Oakland teams that won three straight AL championships from 1988-90, including the 1989 club that swept the San Francisco Giants in the earthquake-interrupted World Series. He won the Cy Young Award after going 27-6 with a 2.95 ERA.

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Welch finished 211-146 with 3.47 ERA in 17 seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers (1978-87) and Athletics (1988-94). He also was the pitching coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks when they won the 2001 World Series and has served as a special instructor for the A’s in recent years.

“This is a sad day for the entire A’s organization,” general manager Billy Beane said. “Those of us who knew Bob as a teammate and a friend will miss him greatly.”

A’s left-hander Sean Doolittle wrote on Twitter: “Devastated to learn of Bob Welch’s passing. The A’s organization lost not only one of its best pitchers, but one of its best people.”

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